Shopping locally makes sense for everyone

Supporting your locally-owned businesses is not just a neighbourly thing to do, it makes really good economic sense. By spending your money in local stores and businesses, you are ensuring that your dollars are staying in the community. Business owners will use that money to hire staff, buy supplies, and even spend it in other local businesses, keeping the wealth here in North Grenville. Corporate stores and businesses usually send your money away to corporate headquarters, depriving North Grenville of the value and potential that would add more and more to our quality of life here.

Spending your money locally gives a huge boost to the local economy. It is calculated that, if you spent 70% of your money in the local economy, it has an impact of around $400, because it then allows others to buy, donate and add more services. Spending 90% of your money locally, means about $1,200 more will be circulating within North Grenville.

Sustain Ontario has published statistics that show the importance of shopping locally. For example, it is estimated that if every household in Ontario spent $10 a week on local food, we would have an additional $2.4 billion in our local economy at the end of the year and create 10,000 new jobs. Economic impact studies for regions across Ontario have also been conducted finding impressive results. For example in Temiskaming it was found that for every dollar of farm gate sales, $2.80 to $3.30 is generated in the wider local economy.

Shopping locally means supporting your neighbours, adding value to the local economy, which helps all of us. Local businesses respond more efficiently to a community’s desire for more locally-produced goods and products, so the cycle continues, building up our local economy just be deicing to spend some more money within North Grenville. It’s simple, effective and it makes sense. Shop locally.